Dirty Little Secrets Always Come Out
by Stana-AlainaLovak97
Summary: Scandal x Hannibal crossover. Will Graham, lawyer at Pope & Associates, is sent to Baltimore to deal with Abigail Hobbs' case. But he will have to face his old mentor, Hannibal Lecter. Hannigram


_A/N: Hello everyone, Stana here! It's been practically a year since I last wrote anything on this website. This is probably my very first time writing something serious, so I might be a little rusty. Please bear with me, as English isn't my first language (French is). Feel free to review; any type of criticism is welcome!_

_This is a Hannigram fanfiction; therefore it will feature interactions between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter. If you're not into slash pairings, you know the way out. Chances are the rating of this story will change, as I planned on mentioning sex and cannibalism in further chapters. ANY TYPE OF KNOWLEDGE CONCERNING ANY OF THE TWO FANDOMS IN THIS CROSSOVER ISN'T NEEDED._

_Summary: Will Graham, lawyer at Pope & Associates, is sent to Baltimore to deal with Abigail Hobbs' case. But he will have to face his old mentor, Hannibal Lecter._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Hannibal or Scandal, both are respectively the property of NBC and ABC, I do not own Thomas Harris' or Shonda Rhimes' creations._

_This first chapter is mostly an introductory chapter: if you don't know anything about Scandal, you will learn more about it here. As from Hannibal, it is best if you already have basic information before reading, but either way it will all come throughout the reading._

**Prologue**

It isn't uncommon for people to question Will Graham's position as a lawyer for Pope & Associates.

It's not because he's being misjudged according to his qualifications. Successfully passing the bar could be contemplated as an exploit to anyone, whether he be confident enough to consider a career in law, politics or none of the above. On the other hand, getting employed at Pope & Associates was many things if not an exploit. The term itself was an understatement. In fact, being hired for a position at Pope & Associates was more of an honour than anything else. Ever since its creation, more than five years from now, Pope & Associates had been regarded as one of the best – if not the best – law firms in Washington DC, the launch of the corporation having gained an almost instantaneous popularity amongst democrats and republicans alike all over the United States of America. It did help that its founder, Olivia Carolyn Pope, was a charismatic young woman with exclusive contacts and tight connections to the White House, having officiated as President Grant's campaign manager and later Communications Manager. The reasons for her resignation still remained unknown up to this day, yet there had been no further questioning at the time. Olivia Pope was a charismatic and bright young woman with an outstanding law career that spoke for itself, and her fellow peers knew that whatever had guided her judgment had to be justified. Other than that, her subordinates operating at Pope & Associates were the picture perfect of efficiency: lawyers, hackers, Private Investigators and the occasional consultant recruited from all over America; brilliant men and women clad in suits whether it be sunny or rainy, witty minds managing their clients' business both in the dark and in front of the media. Few were the ones aware of their rather unorthodox ways of working, and many were the ones – mostly affiliated with the media – curious of their whereabouts and procedures. It was certainly not a 100% legal. But either way, it was efficient. Olivia Pope's "Gladiators in Suits", as they came to be known, worked odd ways, and they did it well.

Will Graham was no exception. He had accomplished quite a feat by picking a law career after years supposedly wasted in the study of criminal behaviour and psychology, getting promoted as the first of his class three years after the beginning of his license; and he had earned himself the respect of all by getting an office at Pope & Associates.

Will's a lawyer, all right. And a good one with that. He has a certificate to prove it, a piece of printed paper with delicate golden letters embossed into it - as useless as they are, to be honest, fairly ugly - certifying his success in graduating first of his class at Stanford, three years after obtaining his degree in general law. He knows practically the whole Constitution of The United States of America off by heart. He's acquired experience in his domain during holidays sacrificed and spent in training at some of Washington DC's best law firms - one of them being Pope & Associates, or OPA as he'd referred to. He'd dealt with lots of clients and crises before.

At first sight though, he doesn't look fit enough to fill the shoes of a law representative, even a baby lawyer. You won't need a shrink to see that. The man lacks self-confidence and social skills, two elementals of the jobs. As much as his boss tries, Will finds himself unable to make clear eye contact with others, including colleagues from the bureau. Hel, he can't even hold a decent conversation with anyone without feeling the urge to run away, escape and crawl into a hole. The only people with whom he's been able to interact - "socialize" is too strong a word - with, so far, had to be his dog, Winston and the other guy from the bureau, Huck Finn. It wasn't his real name, obviously, but it didn't pose a problem to the Southern man. The other one had to be the only person not wearing a suit in the office, always showing up in shirt or plaid, jeans and sneakers; he also happened to be as out of place at the law firm as he was good at hacking into other people's bank accounts, phones and computers all over the globe. Like Will, Huck wasn't much of a social butterfly, but he was good conversation when he actually talked, and the only person he managed to understand in the whole damn world. There were some dark corners in Huck's mind, ones he didn't take pleasure in watching unfold before him whenever he watched his friend business partner; therefore, he made sure to never press him concerning the subject, and Huck did likewise.

People distrust his qualifications because of his awkwardness at being a lawyer. But then, few people understand his true role behind the closed doors of the private office. Because Will Graham is no ordinary lawyer.

Will Graham is an empath.

According to the dictionary, an empath is "a person gifted with the ability to feel the emotions of others despite the fact that they themselves are not going through the same situation". The meaning is loose, truly, painfully neutral. Empathy is, after all, so much more, yet so little in the end. A big word for his co-workers, a rather simplistic one that ensures him a better-than-average pay-check for a lawyer. For in the end, he's more of an empath than a lawyer.

This job is fairly easy; at least that's his opinion. With every case come new clients, whom Olivia carefully leads to their conference table or to the closest couch. They spend some time listening to the man or woman's story, retire behind a glass door to vote - of course, vote is a big word; it has been a long time since the last time they'd truly voted. The firm accepts the case; Olivia assigns each person his or her task. Will's is usually the same: look up into their client's identity and background history. That is mostly child's play, the fairly basic and internal part of his work. Yet he doesn't start to act out before the coffee break.

Tradition is to welcome the client with a drink or a treat of any kind, no matter who the person is. The mission had been mostly Quinn's these last days, as the brunette was the newest addition to the team. She still had some complications with the coffee machine, though, therefore it was also part of Will's mission to help. He didn't mind. He would grab a mug or a Styrofoam cup, brew some fresh coffee or infuse tea, heat up a pastry, get it all on a porcelain plate and walk back to the conference room with it. There, he would meet back with the client, the corners of his mouth tucked into a small, reassuring smile. This was, after all, the most important step of his mission. Put on a mask, be sociable, play the nice lawyer-slash-mother-hen who took care of everything and anything. As bad as he was at eye-contact, Will was a good actor. Thankfully, most clients were too flustered or embarrassed by their own presence in the room to look him in the eye. Anyhow, he always put on a show, but not too much so to not intimidate. And, last but not least, he watched.

He sits by the client's side, eventually engages into small talk, but he mostly watches. So far, he's already been taking in numerous details, from the moment the client has entered the room to now. From the beginning of an interview, he can draw an instantaneous profile of their new client. Nationality; approximate age, height and weight; marital status; possible police records; mental personality sheet; thoughts being processed at the moment; motive for coming to see them; pay check. Will doesn't stop there, of course. The interview and private conversation are simply confirmation. All he has to do is read them some more -it tells him so much: who is cheating with who, who is lying, who has murdered someone, who is sick, who has been kidnapped... It is necessary, no matter how many times Olivia tells him that it is useless - Will is, after all, practically almost always right.


End file.
